Davis Cup coming to Veterans Memorial Arena

The United States will begin its chase for the 2013 Davis Cup tennis title when it hosts Brazil in a first round tie at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

The matches are set for Feb. 1-3, with the two teams facing off in a best-of-five series for the right to advance to the second round and face the winner of the Serbia-Belgium match.

"Hosting the Davis Cup competition represents a great opportunity for our city to receive the global attention it deserves," said Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown. "The word is getting out: Jacksonville is a premier city for major sporting events. Our city's selection emerged from a highly competitive process, and it goes to show that we have the staff, facilities and expertise to create a marquis experience that will delight the thousands of fans headed our way. We have a tremendous tennis community that is eager to engage in a first-class tennis event at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena."

"There is nothing like playing Davis Cup in your home country, and Jacksonville will be a great venue when we host Brazil next year," said Jim Courier, who led the United States to the semifinals this year in his second season as U.S. Davis Cup captain. "We were very happy to draw a home match. This could be a great opportunity for players like John (Isner), Sam (Querrey) and Ryan (Harrison) to experience a home court advantage for the first time in their Davis Cup careers."

This will be the first major tennis event held in the arena since it opened in 2004. It will be just the second home match in his capacity as U.S. Davis Cup captain for Florida native Courier. The U.S. played all three of its matches on the road this year, posting wins over Roger Federer's Swiss team and France before losing to Spain in the semifinals.

The matches begin on Friday, Feb. 1, with a pair of singles matches. On Saturday, Feb. 2, the two teams will face off in a doubles match. The reverse singles matches are set for Sunday, Feb. 3.

The matchup with Brazil will be the first home tie for the U.S. since the 2011 quarterfinals in Austin, Texas, and just the third home tie for the U.S. since 2009. In that time, the U.S. team has played seven road matches -- all on clay.

Originally created in 1900 as a match between the United States and Great Britain, the Davis Cup is awarded to the winner of the 16-nation World Group, which is the culmination of competition between 122 competing countries.

The event is being organized, staged and promoted by the United States Tennis Association. Tickets will go on sale to the general public in early December. For more information, fans can call the U.S. Davis Cup hotline at 888-484-8782 or visit www.usta.com/daviscup.

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